What a Father Does
by banjkazfan
Summary: Datz helps Nahuyta and Apollo as they excitedly prepare a surprise for Dhurke, but he doesn't realize that his role in their family is just as important. Sometimes, he just needs a reminder.


(Another fill for the Phoenix Wright Kink Meme which just really hit me right in the family feels. Anon requested:

"Where's the Datz love on the meme? I need to see some cute fluff with him, Dhurke, and the boys, set during the time when they were hiding out in the mountains together. I wouldn't complain if authornon felt like including some DhurkexDatz either, though I'd still be happy even without it."

I'm complete Datz trash, so I had to take this on. I hope you like, anon!)

* * *

The sky is still dark when he hears the whisper of voices outside of his window. Dhurke tenses as he strains to listen and he immediately sits up when the fog of sleep makes it difficult to identify the voices. His hand falls on the cool mattress next to him and now his panic grows. Datz isn't there, and he has no idea where the boys are either. Are they all safe? Has someone found their location? Has someone gotten to them?! He's halfway to getting dressed when, outside, he hears Datz's laugh with two younger giggles and Dhurke relaxes exponentially.

Though Dhurke normally considers himself to be quite composed, when it comes to his family he finds that he's high-strung.

He's surprised that the other man has coaxed the boys out of bed so early and he wonders what the occasion is. Dhurke smiles, more at ease now that he knows where his family is, and settles back against the mattress. Normally he'd be up to join them, but it really is early. He's tired, and he's going to take advantage of the empty bed. Datz typically takes up three quarters of the bed, so Dhurke does not intend to let the space go to waste. He grabs Datz's pillow, claiming it for himself as he listens to their voices outside. He smiles when he hears Apollo's excited voice, and he wonders what they're up to out there as he dozes lightly.

"Datz! Datz, look, I caught something!" Apollo crows, proudly displaying his fishing line. On the end is a tuna, wiggling frantically as if still trying to swim in the river. He grins excitedly and holds it higher over his head.

Datz returns the smile and gives Apollo a single thumbs-up, as his other hand is currently occupied with his own fishing pole. "Great job, AJ!" he cheers. "Bring it here, let me see!"

As Apollo trots over, carefully holding his flopping fish to stop it from detaching itself from the hook, Nahyuta puffs his cheeks out. He still waits for a bite, though both Datz and Apollo have caught something already. He needs patience, he knows, but his frustration grows because he wants this to be absolutely perfect. "The fish aren't biting for me," he frowns, looking unbelievably serious for such a tiny child holding an equally tiny fishing rod. And oh, Holy Mother, his lip is quivering.

Datz bites back a grin at the sight. He's too adorable like this, pouting something fierce. "Patience, Yuty," he reassures him with a quick pat to the shoulder. "You'll get something! And we need just a few more…" He turns a scrutinizing gaze to Apollo's fish. "Great, we'll definitely use that one! Go drop him in the bucket."

Deftly Apollo drops the fish into the bucket with the rest of that morning's catch. He trots back over, but rather than picking up his abandoned rod, he sits next to Nahyuta. "I'll help you catch a fish!" he declares in excitement. "Those fish won't get away from you!"

Nahyuta frowns and lifts his chin. "Your loud voice will scare them away," he returns shortly. He's absolutely determined to catch something, and if Apollo ruins it for him, then he's going to be cross.

The fair-haired boy is surprised when Datz moves behind him and picks him up, settling so that the boy is sitting astride his lap. "Here," he says with a warm smile. "Let's see if we can't catch something together, yeah?"

Apollo presses against Datz's side, going silent as the older man takes Nahyuta's hands and places them around the rod. He doesn't want to scare off the fish, after all, and he's happy to sit here in the brisk morning air with Datz and Nahyuta, with only the flow of the river speaking to them.

Only a few minutes later, the line in Nahyuta's hands jumps. "Oh!" he gasps. "There's something on the line!"

Datz grins and begins helping to secure the catch. "Hold it steady!" he cautions, his own voice filled with delight. "Reel it in, Yuty!" He holds the pole so that Nahyuta can begin to wind the reel. Apollo stands next to them, shouting encouragement and clenching his fists tightly as if his invisible grip can somehow stop the fish from escaping.

A long, tense moment later, Nahyuta has proudly extracted the fish and holds it above his head. Apollo practically screams in glee, running to grab the bucket so that Nahyuta can place it with the other fish. Datz ruffles both boys' hair as Nahyuta climbs off of his lap.

"I'll get the fish ready," he says. "You two, go start the rice!"

The boys giggle as they take off running, preparing to start the fire that is needed to boil the rice. Datz smiles fondly as he watches them disappear over the side of the hill. He's pretty content to let them wander, as he can usually hear where they are, but he'll stay close by. Dhurke's still sleeping, meaning that there's only one set of eyes on the boys, and there's been stirrings in the city lately which means he'd rather be closer to them.

Datz unsheathes his machete before quickly cleaning the fish. He's probably too soft, but he doesn't want to make them go through the process of cleaning the fish. He knows that eventually he'll have to teach them to do it themselves, but right now they're only seven. Datz is happy to let them get away without doing it for now. Dhurke tells him he's soft, and he smiles. Yeah, he's probably too lenient sometimes, but the kids have him wrapped around their little fingers.

It takes only a few minutes to clean the fish, and he takes the fillets up the hill to where Nahyuta and Apollo are stoking the fire to life. Datz smiles and settles down between them. "Alright," he says, lowering his voice to almost an exaggerated whisper. "The sun's starting to come up, so we've got to be quiet so we don't wake Dhurke. We still want to surprise him, yeah?"

Apollo and Nahyuta nod, still smiling as they begin to load up the pot with the rice they've brought out. Just as quickly, they run to the river to fill it with water. Their voices carry over the hill as they go, and they return as Datz carefully cuts the fish into rectangular squares. Apollo sets the rice to cook over the fire while Nahyuta watches Datz's surprisingly delicate cuts. And though they're excited to set up their surprise, now that the adrenaline of catching fish is finished, Datz can tell that they are worn out. It's unsurprising; he'd woken them before sunrise after all.

He dunks his hands in a nearby bucket of water to clean the fish off of his fingers. No sooner has he set aside the fish before Apollo and Nahyuta are both pressed against him, curling close in his lap and resting their heads against his chest. Datz smiles and settles against the rock that the three of them playfully bicker over as a seat (usually Dhurke ends up slinking in and stealing it away from them). He lays his hands on their shoulders, humming a soft song in Khura'inese that echoes in the recesses of his memory. He's sure someone sang it to him growing up, and it feels right to pass it on to the boys. The fact that they aren't entirely conscious to absorb it is a small detail.

The sun is just beginning to rise when Dhurke exits the cabin. He smiles as he sees his three boys, nestled close to each other and in front of the fire. Apollo and Nahyuta are sound asleep in Datz's lap, but Datz is still awake. The older man looks to him and smiles.

"Hey," he murmurs. "Mind pulling the rice off of the fire?" Datz grins sheepishly. "I'd do it, but I don't have the heart to wake them."

Dhurke chuckles and obliges, sitting the pot in the dirt nearby before taking a seat next to their little cluster. "I'm not surprised they're asleep," he says. "You must have had them up early."

Datz nods and runs his hand through Apollo's little horns of hair as the boy makes a sound in his sleep. "Well," he says softly. "They wanted to surprise you, and you get up early…" He shrugs and smiles. "So we just got up earlier. They'll sleep well tonight, I'm sure."

It takes Dhurke a moment to register the words, but now he's quite curious. "Surprise me?" he repeats, racking his brain. "But why?"

Datz chuckles quietly. "Do you know what day it is?" he finally asks. At Dhurke's confused face, he continues. "It's Otounos'tag," he reminds him.

Dhurke feels a lump in his throat. Otounos'tag – a traditional celebration of fathers in Khura'in. Every year, he forgets, and every year, the boys catch him off guard. The past few years, it's been simple things – they bring him beautiful wildflowers that they find in the mountain fields, or they clamber into his lap and hug him with strength that belies such little bodies. Every gesture makes his heart swell with love for his sons, no matter how big or small.

"I had forgotten," Dhurke says slowly. Some days, he doesn't feel that he has the right to be called their father – just being related to him is dangerous at this point, and he couldn't bear if anything happened to them. It's why if he has to go into the city, he makes the boys stay with Datz, despite their pleas to accompany him. After all, what kind of father wouldn't give his life to save his own children? He refuses to bring danger back to their home in the mountains.

Datz frowns as he recognizes that look on Dhurke's face. They've had many conversations about this after the boys are asleep, and sometimes it sticks. Sometimes it doesn't. It seems that right now, it isn't sinking in.

"I know that face," Datz says, reaching over to tap Dhurke's forehead. "Listen. The boys are lucky to have you as their father." He smiles – sometimes Dhurke just doesn't understand how important he is to them. "They adore you. Yuty wants to be just like you when he grows up, you know. Always talking about how he's gonna be big and strong, just like his father." Apollo makes another soft noise and Datz smooths his hair again. "Even AJ. He might not call you Dad, but you're a father to him. I know he sees you that way."

Nahyuta snuffles a little closer, pressing his face against Datz's chest, and the older man is momentarily distracted as he turns his attention to the sleeping boy. He lays his hand on Nahyuta's back until he calms down and settles back into a deeper sleep.

Seeing Datz be so paternal with his boys makes Dhurke smile. It occurs to him that Datz has always been there – he'd met him by chance years ago, when Dhurke was an attorney and Datz, arrested for a crime he hadn't committed, had nobody on his side. After overturning the conviction, they'd become close friends and had been there for each other during times both good and bad.

This relationship that they have is only a few years old, but the trust and mutual respect that they share has been around for far longer. The memories play through his head, and he doesn't realize that he's staring until Datz meets his eyes and turns a little red. "What is it?" he laughs nervously. "You're, ah, kinda zoned out…"

Dhurke smiles and leans in, catching Datz by the chin. "I'm just thinking," he says, enjoying the way that the heat spreads to Datz's ears. "You know that you're just as much of a father to them as I am."

He knows that Datz would give his life for these boys in a heartbeat. The thought hits him somewhere deep, and he knows that he must do everything in his power to protect his family – all of it. Both his boys and his partner are his world, and he won't let anything happen to them.

It catches Datz off guard and he immediately denies it. "Nah," he demurs, "I'm just the cool uncle. And that's fine with me! It means I get to help them do all the fun stuff behind your back when you say no." His grin is mischievous, and Dhurke makes a mental note to keep an eye on _that_ for the next few years.

It's ironic to him that Datz has just lectured him about how the boys see him as a father, but he doesn't recognize his own role in their lives. "I'm not so sure," Dhurke says. "You're helping to raise them as well. And isn't that what a father does?" Impulsively he leans in, brushing his lips against Datz's and reveling in the way the older man's blush darkens as he returns the brief and gentle kiss. " _Hap'piraki Otounos'tag_."

Datz swallows against the unexpected onslaught of emotions that the simple phrase brings, and he smiles as he reaches out to take Dhurke's hand. " _Hap'piraki Otounos'tag,_ " he echoes softly. He smiles when Dhurke settles in next to him and slides an arm around his shoulder. He shifts just enough to get closer without disturbing the boys, and Datz smiles as he lays his head back against Dhurke's chest.

The sun casts a beautiful golden glow over the mountaintop, and they both know that there's nowhere they'd rather be.

…

They're not sure how long it's been, or when they dozed, but the sun is climbing across the sky when little hands shake them both into some semblance of consciousness.

"Dhurke! Datz!" Apollo's loud voice jolts them both fully awake and both men jump, belatedly realizing that they are still pressed together. They look up at Apollo and Nahuyta, each holding a plate and standing proudly. On the plates are some semblance of sashimi – the rice is a little overcooked and it doesn't stick together quite right, and the fish is a little large for the portions – but their pleased smiles show just how much effort was made, and Dhurke and Datz smile up at the boys.

" _Hap'piraki Otounos'tag!_ " Nahuyta and Apollo shout as they each present a plate to the men in their lives. They're grinning gleefully, and Datz's heart melts when he realizes that he's being included in this celebration.

Dhurke laughs and declares how good the sashimi looks, and Nahyuta crawls into his lap to steal a few pieces off of his plate. Datz sets his aside just long enough to scoop up Apollo and hug him close. He pops a piece into his mouth, playfully making an attempt to knock Apollo's grabbing hand away but eventually "pretending" to let him snag some if it for himself. It doesn't look pretty, but the love with which it was made makes it taste all the better.

As the boys run off to get another serving together, Nahyuta practically shouting at the ratio of fish-to-rice has to be _better this time, Apollo_ , Dhurke smiles and closes his hand around Datz's. "Told you," he grins simply.

Datz can't stop smiling, and he turns his gaze to Dhurke now. "…yeah," he says. "You told me." His heart is warm and he's happy as can be. His family is small, but it's _his_. After a long moment, he laughs loud enough to make some nearby birds fluff in annoyance. "Hey, you think they'd call me Dadtz?"

Groaning like Datz has physically hurt him, Dhurke pinches his waist hard enough to draw a yelp that sends the birds scattering. But they're both laughing even when the boys come running to see what in the world happened.

And in that moment, they're able to forget about the upheaval in their country. They're able to focus on their family, and everything is as it should be – even if it's just for now.


End file.
